Smallpox Part One: A Worldwide Scourge - with James Wilke

Any medical history podcast needs to spend some time talking about perhaps the worst and most culturally influential infectious disease we've known: smallpox.   So we're going to do this in two parts, starting with an overview of how smallpox affected various areas of the world and truly shaped the whole of human civilization.  It's also one of those rare stories that ends in triumph but that will wait for the second part on this topic.   It's hard to overstate how intertwined we as humans are, historically speaking, with this virus. 

In light of that, we invited an expert onto the show.  This week we're happy to have Emmy award winning director, James Wilke on the show.   Having completed his artist-in-residency program at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago, IL in the spring of 2022, James spent his time there researching smallpox. 

His exhibit, Pox Americana: How Smallpox Once Plagued America and The World was extended beyond its original dates to run from July through November of 2022.  James is an artist of many talents.  In addition to his work as a medical historian, he is an artist-author, playwright, director, producer, singer/songwriter and, most recently, the creator of this week's episode. 

So listen in and enjoy this introduction to smallpox--without having to get up close and personal with the pustules.

Guest Links:

Museum website: https://imss.org/james-r-wilke/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/james.r.wilke/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087887634437

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